User:Victoriaearle/Tutorial

How to avoid close paraphrasing[edit]

Identify a source.
Read all of it, top to bottom.
Walk away for at least 24 hours.
Take notes in your own words. Anything you can't put in your own words should be quoted. Be sure to identify the source on your notes.
Repeat steps 1, 2, 3 and 4, until you've read all the sources and made notes.
Write the article from the notes, in your own words, without looking at the source. At this point you've used your own words for the notes and for writing, so it's not as easy to remember the words from the sources.
The first round of article writing is only a draft - now start rewriting to get the prose, flow, structure, etc. right.
At the end of the process check the sources only to make sure the text matches the sources. Fix as necessary.